Early 1900s saw competing downtown stores, lots of music, dancing
By Greg Olson / Photo provided by Greg Olson
If a person could travel back in time to the Jacksonville of the year 1910, what would he or she think was the most striking thing about the town?
Arriving in the summer, the time traveler might be awestruck by the tall and leafy elm trees whose branches arched over many of the city’s brick-paved streets, intertwining their branches and forming a natural tunnel that blocked out most of the sunshine.
Undoubtedly, the out-of-place visitor would also notice the variety in modes of transportation. They might witness horse-drawn wagons delivering bottles of milk, blocks of ice and maybe even a new upright piano.
If they visited the downtown area on about any Saturday, they would most likely be caught up in a crowd of shoppers, who arrived in everything from buggies to Model T Fords.
The interloper would also have trouble crossing the square, full of trolley cars, automobiles, horses, bicycles, pedestrians and farm wagons moving in all directions.
Not only would the downtown crowds and traffic congestion look unfamiliar, so would have most of the physical landmarks. The city’s skyscraping bank building, at least outwardly, would have appeared much as it does today, but its surroundings would be much different.
Looking around the square, the time traveler would not find any parking lots; every spot would be occupied by a building.
Also, most of them would be small, family-owned businesses, some of which had been in operation for generations. Around the time of World War I, for example, there were nearly 70 businesses just around the square. There were seven drugstores, seven shoe stores, six dry goods stores, three millineries, three jewelry stores, three grocery stores, three hotels and more than anything else — clothing stores. Ten such stores were on the Jacksonville square when war broke out in Europe in 1914.
All of these stores on the square faced Central Park, a green space crowded with towering elm trees, which, between 1904 and 1917, surrounded a wooden bandstand the locals called a pagoda.
Whatever they called the structure, it proved a useful and appropriately placed platform. After all, the pagoda was at the heart of Jacksonville, which, in 1915, had about 15,500 residents.
Crowds gathered around the pagoda to listen to long-winded Fourth of July speakers, political campaigners and, perhaps most importantly, local bands. Jacksonville residents loved their bands, some of which had even gained some national recognition.
Leading a series of different concert bands for adults and children over the years was Charles C. Jeffries, and many of his musicians entertained summertime crowds that filled Central Park for years.
The late Jim Welch, band director at Jacksonville High School for more than 30 years, once said that he had heard that Jeffries Concert Band played the chorus part of John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever” 10 times in a row, and people stood up in Central Park and cheered.
In addition, the Nichols Park Pavilion was a popular venue for musicians in those days. Music lovers would jam onto the pavilion’s polished maple floors to listen to local orchestras play their versions of the latest hits.
Jacksonville groups such as The Elite Six Orchestra, the Jacksonville Community Band, The Ex-Servicemen’s Band at the Jacksonville State Hospital, Olds’ Orchestra and the Melody Lane Serenaders were among the headliners at the park pavilion during the 1920s.
For many years, the “park dances,” as they were called, were held from 9 p.m. to midnight every Wednesday, Saturday and holiday from early May to mid-September.
The late Frank Spaulding once recalled that a person could buy one dance ticket for 10 cents and 14 tickets for $1 during the Great Depression.
“The first and last dances of the evening were free,” recalled Spaulding. “When the dances started, the people were there. They wanted to be there for the first dance because it was free.” Spaulding’s father, O.H. Spaulding, managed the dances at the pavilion nearly every year from the time it opened in 1904 until about 1950.
A dance consisted of a band playing two songs, according to Frank Spaulding — after each dance, the pavilion’s floor was cleared of dancers and no one could re-enter unless they presented another ticket.
Spaulding recalled that his father required bands to play 20 songs an hour, or 60 an evening, and that band members were paid about $9 each for the gig.
“I have no idea how much money (my father) would make in an evening,” said Spaulding. “He was successful, but nobody back then made a lot of money unless they were robbing banks.”o listen to long-winded Fourth of July speakers, political campaigners and, perhaps most importantly, local bands. Jacksonville residents loved their bands, some of which had even gained some national recognition.
Leading a series of different concert bands for adults and children over the years was Charles C. Jeffries, and many of his musicians entertained summertime crowds that filled Central Park for years.
The late Jim Welch, band director at Jacksonville High School for more than 30 years, once said that he had heard that Jeffries Concert Band played the chorus part of John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever” 10 times in a row, and people stood up in Central Park and cheered.
In addition, the Nichols Park Pavilion was a popular venue for musicians in those days. Music lovers would jam onto the pavilion’s polished maple floors to listen to local orchestras play their versions of the latest hits.
Jacksonville groups such as The Elite Six Orchestra, the Jacksonville Community Band, The Ex-Servicemen’s Band at the Jacksonville State Hospital, Olds’ Orchestra and the Melody Lane Serenaders were among the headliners at the park pavilion during the 1920s.
For many years, the “park dances,” as they were called, were held from 9 p.m. to midnight every Wednesday, Saturday and holiday from early May to mid-September.
The late Frank Spaulding once recalled that a person could buy one dance ticket for 10 cents and 14 tickets for $1 during the Great Depression.
“The first and last dances of the evening were free,” recalled Mr. Spaulding. “When the dances started, the people were there. They wanted to be there for the first dance because it was free.” Mr. Spaulding’s father, O.H. Spaulding, managed the dances at the pavilion nearly every year from the time it opened in 1904 until about 1950.
A dance consisted of a band playing two songs, according to Mr. Spaulding. And after each dance, the pavilion’s floor was cleared of dancers and no one could re-enter unless they presented another ticket.
Mr. Spaulding recalled that his father required bands to play 20 songs an hour, or 60 an evening, and that band members were paid about $9 each for the gig.
“I have no idea how much money (my father) would make in an evening,” said Mr. Spaulding. “He was successful, but nobody back then made a lot of money unless they were robbing banks.”
